Grizzl-E Charger + Diode Error

I have a 2016 SV with ~50k miles. We have had 0 issues, other than the aesthetics I suppose.

We have always used it for scooting around town and recharged with the trickle charger w/o challenges. We recently put in a 50a 240v receptacle to power a high current charger, in this case, the Grizzl-E Extreme (camo!) in 40a mode.

The first time I hooked it up, it worked great and charged the car like a champ. The next time (and many times), the charger faults with a "diode error" (9 beeps). The car always worked with other public chargers and continues to work with the trickle charger. I have not subsequently tested it with a high current charger after the Grizzl-E failure.

I had some pleasant back and forth with the Grizzl-E folks who asked to validate the receptacle is good (check!) and then they said it is their fault and are sending me a new one. I suppose this is a good outcome but I am uneasy about the whole situation unless their QC is poor, which doesn't seem to be the case judging by reviews.

Any thoughts on what happened / what diode error means?

hopperdropper said:

Any thoughts on what happened / what diode error means?

Click to expand...

There is a diode right at the end of the control pilot signal path, in the on-board charrger (OBC) itself. The idea is that when all is well, all attenuation of the +-12V signal should be on the positive side, after the diode. Any attenuation of the negative signal would be due to leakage to ground, and could indicate that the "handle is in the mud" or a person is touching the wire and therefore it is unsafe to proceed.

Occasionally, the diode in the Leaf's OBC can fail shorted. If that happens, all EVSE (AC "chargers") are supposed to report an error. The Nissan supplied EVSE often does not do this. So it could be that you still have a problem, and that the problem is in the vehicle.

The tragedy is that IF this diode has failed shorted, Nissan diagnostics say to replace the whole charrger, when in fact it's a ten cent part that has failed. It's also possible to insert another diode in the vehicle. There are many topics on this subject; this one should get you started. But find out how to check for the failed diode first; you just need a multimeter.

Thanks. I tried to diagnose using my multimeter but the probes were too short. I tried it at 2 different L2 charging centers with success so I now have

1) Success with the trickle charger
2) Success at a Blink and Semaconnect L2 charger

I am going to attribute this to a faulty new charger

...and we are back.

The mfg sent me a new device and the same exact thing happened. It worked the very first time and then faulted during subsequent charging attempts. The car successfully charges at public L2 stations like Blink, Somaconnect, etc, and successfully charges using the Nissan trickle charger.

Any ideas?

my 2013 Nissan Leaf has experienced that same set of events here. Grizzl-e level2 charger worked one time, now the car switches to "not charging" w/ all blue lights off and the charger gets stuck in "charging" mode w/ the green LED flashing.

110V charger works as before,
already reconditioned the 12V battery.
no errors from the car nor Grizzl-e charger.
we checked the wires between the 220V charger and the Electric panel.
resetting the 220V charger via the breaker box does fix its broken state problem (stuck in charging mode)

hopperdropper said:

Any ideas?

Click to expand...

Yeah: don't use it!
Seriously, this thread should be titled "don't use a Grizzle-e EVSE" and turned into a sticky.